The act of living in Zimbabwe is somewhat of a risk at the moment, so you might think that there would be very little affinity for visiting Zimbabwe’s casinos. In reality, it seems to be functioning the opposite way, with the awful economic conditions creating a greater eagerness to gamble, to try and locate a fast win, a way from the problems.
For the majority of the people living on the abysmal local earnings, there are 2 popular forms of betting, the national lottery and Zimbet. Just as with practically everywhere else on the planet, there is a national lotto where the chances of winning are remarkably low, but then the prizes are also extremely big. It’s been said by market analysts who study the subject that most don’t buy a card with a real expectation of profiting. Zimbet is built on either the national or the UK soccer divisions and involves predicting the results of future matches.
Zimbabwe’s casinos, on the other shoe, pander to the very rich of the state and sightseers. Until not long ago, there was a considerably large sightseeing industry, based on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The market woes and associated violence have cut into this market.
Amongst Zimbabwe’s gambling dens, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has five gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree Casino, which has just the slots. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has only slot machines. Mutare has the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which have table games, one armed bandits and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which has slot machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s gambling halls and the aforestated talked about lottery and Zimbet (which is quite like a parimutuel betting system), there is a total of 2 horse racing complexes in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the second metropolis) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Seeing as that the economy has shrunk by more than 40% in recent years and with the connected deprivation and bloodshed that has come to pass, it is not well-known how well the sightseeing industry which is the foundation for Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the next few years. How many of them will still be around until conditions improve is merely unknown.